Quantifying nursing time in the oncology ambulatory care area is challenging due to the unpredictability of this patient population. Oncology outpatients have multiple complex needs often requiring multiple treatments with each visit. Patients seen for routine blood work may end up requiring an admission for fever and neutropenia. Patients in the outpatient cancer center (OCC) in the Clinical Center (CC) of the National Institutes of Health receive phase I and II clinical trials. This adds an additional layer of complexity to their care requirements. Many of the patients receive medications requiring frequent vital signs and pharmacokinetic blood work. Research endpoints must also be coordinated to maintain protocol integrity. Caring for patients in this environment requires astute judgment and meticulous care from the nursing staff. The clinical trial environment places a unique workload on the nurses caring for this population. This poster will show the process of development, implementation, and evaluation of an intensity system that was piloted and adapted in the OCC of the CC. This system is used to assist with the identification of staffing, productivity, and staff development needs. The development of an intensity system provides a mechanism to objectively measure the amount of direct and indirect care required to provide comprehensive care to the ambulatory oncology patient. Critical indicators are identified based on CC policies, procedures, and standards of practice and preexisting competencies for the ambulatory oncology area. Nurses select the highest level of care required by each patient. Levels are then equated to a time factor. The intensity system was used to enhance the use of critical thinking skills as nurses closely examine their daily workload expenditure. The system can also be used as a performance improvement tool to identify missing documentation and appropriate activities for nursing staff to perform. The tool can be easily adapted to any care setting. It may also be used in the research setting as a tool to measure baseline protocol intensity. Measuring patient intensity in the ambulatory oncology population is essential in providing an objective method to predict staffing needs in the delivery of safe and comprehensive care.

Repository Posting Date:

27-Oct-2011

Date of Publication:

27-Oct-2011

Conference Date:

2002

Conference Name:

27th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress

Conference Host:

Oncology Nursing Society

Conference Location:

Washington, D.C., USA

Note:

This is an abstract-only submission. If the author has submitted a full-text item based on this abstract, you may find it by browsing the Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository by author. If author contact information is available in this abstract, please feel free to contact him or her with your queries regarding this submission. Alternatively, please contact the conference host, journal, or publisher (according to the circumstance) for further details regarding this item.
If a citation is listed in this record, the item has been published and is available via open-access avenues or a journal/database subscription. Contact your library for assistance in obtaining the as-published article.

Quantifying nursing time in the oncology ambulatory care area is challenging due to the unpredictability of this patient population. Oncology outpatients have multiple complex needs often requiring multiple treatments with each visit. Patients seen for routine blood work may end up requiring an admission for fever and neutropenia. Patients in the outpatient cancer center (OCC) in the Clinical Center (CC) of the National Institutes of Health receive phase I and II clinical trials. This adds an additional layer of complexity to their care requirements. Many of the patients receive medications requiring frequent vital signs and pharmacokinetic blood work. Research endpoints must also be coordinated to maintain protocol integrity. Caring for patients in this environment requires astute judgment and meticulous care from the nursing staff. The clinical trial environment places a unique workload on the nurses caring for this population. This poster will show the process of development, implementation, and evaluation of an intensity system that was piloted and adapted in the OCC of the CC. This system is used to assist with the identification of staffing, productivity, and staff development needs. The development of an intensity system provides a mechanism to objectively measure the amount of direct and indirect care required to provide comprehensive care to the ambulatory oncology patient. Critical indicators are identified based on CC policies, procedures, and standards of practice and preexisting competencies for the ambulatory oncology area. Nurses select the highest level of care required by each patient. Levels are then equated to a time factor. The intensity system was used to enhance the use of critical thinking skills as nurses closely examine their daily workload expenditure. The system can also be used as a performance improvement tool to identify missing documentation and appropriate activities for nursing staff to perform. The tool can be easily adapted to any care setting. It may also be used in the research setting as a tool to measure baseline protocol intensity. Measuring patient intensity in the ambulatory oncology population is essential in providing an objective method to predict staffing needs in the delivery of safe and comprehensive care.

en_GB

dc.date.available

2011-10-27T12:20:47Z

-

dc.date.issued

2011-10-27

en_GB

dc.date.accessioned

2011-10-27T12:20:47Z

-

dc.conference.date

2002

en_US

dc.conference.name

27th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress

en_US

dc.conference.host

Oncology Nursing Society

en_US

dc.conference.location

Washington, D.C., USA

en_US

dc.description.note

This is an abstract-only submission. If the author has submitted a full-text item based on this abstract, you may find it by browsing the Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository by author. If author contact information is available in this abstract, please feel free to contact him or her with your queries regarding this submission. Alternatively, please contact the conference host, journal, or publisher (according to the circumstance) for further details regarding this item.
If a citation is listed in this record, the item has been published and is available via open-access avenues or a journal/database subscription. Contact your library for assistance in obtaining the as-published article.

-

All Items in this repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.